The present invention is directed to the field of therapeutic equipment used to stretch and exercise certain muscle groups. In particular the device and method of the present invention is directed to treatment of persons who are suffering from stress related muscle problems in the neck, shoulders and upper back.
Persons who suffer from these stress related problems typically appear to walk or stand in a slumped forward position which results in short and tight chest muscles. Further, their shoulder muscles are sagging and the upper back muscles between the shoulder blades are long, atrophied and very sore. When the head is carried forward, the muscles in the upper back and lower neck are significantly strained just keeping the head erect. This medical condition is known as “anterior translation” and is the single largest cause of upper back and neck pain as well as tension headaches in the skull. Typically, these conditions result in spinal misalignment of the neck and upper back. The spinal misalignment problems usually start early in life and progress to more serious conditions such as disc problems and hump back.
In the past, one of the therapies for the aforementioned problems has been various exercises intended to stretch the muscles without the use of any device to facilitate the exercise. However, patients performing such exercises have generally been unable to precisely and consistently repeat the particular motions associated with the exercises, resulting in a diminished therapeutic effect. The device and method of the present invention is adapted to facilitate and improve upon the muscle stretching exercises which relieves the problems mentioned above.